Flavors of Ambition

Cities have always been built to last. The question now is whether they are built to change, and whether the difference matters when disruption arrives.
Resilience Reflections is a Flavors of Ambition mini-series from BCG that examines how recent disruptions are reshaping how leaders think about strategy, infrastructure, and long-term resilience. In this episode, the series turns its lens on cities, and on what separates the places that hold under pressure from those that reveal,, that their foundations were designed for a more stable world.
BCG Senior Partners Vladislav Boutenko and Suresh Subudhi are co-authors of two of BCG's most recent publications on urban competitiveness, and between them have advised more than fifty governments, city leaders, and boards across seventeen countries on what it takes to build cities that genuinely work for the people who live in them.
The conversation begins with a question that sounds simple but isn't: what does resilience actually mean for a city, and does the way we currently measure urban success tell us anything useful about how cities endure when conditions change?
Vlad and Suresh explore what the reports Built to Change and the Intelligent Cities Index reveal about speed of change and why its relationship to resident advocacy challenges some long-held assumptions about what makes cities competitive. They examine what the research shows about the gap between cities that have the capability to adapt and those actually delivering better outcomes for residents.
The episode then moves into territory the data points toward but doesn't fully resolve: how migration is changing, what a billion people choosing where to live over the next decade means for cities in this region, and how leaders should be thinking about talent, livability, and the economics of urban life in that context.
If you lead a city, work with one, or simply choose to live in one, this conversation will change how you think about what cities are for and what it will take to make them work in the decades ahead.
Links:
Vladislav Boutenko on LinkedIn
Suresh Subudhi on LinkedIn
Built to Change: How Cities Compete for the Future
Intelligent Cities Index 2026
BCG Middle East
BCG Middle East | Podcasts
Email Flavors of Ambition: flavorsofambition@bcg.com

The Middle East has lived through disruption. What leaders do with what that disruption revealed is the question that matters now.
Resilience Reflections is a Flavors of Ambition mini-series from BCG that explores how recent disruptions are reshaping business strategy, supply chains, and operational resilience. Through conversations with BCG experts, the series examines practical lessons for leaders navigating an increasingly complex operating environment.
In this episode, BCG Managing Director and Senior Partner Jad Bitar draws on more than thirty years of experience advising leaders through crisis, from the 2008 financial crisis and COVID to the recent disruptions across the region, to examine the gap at the centre of every leadership failure: the distance between how organisations are designed to perform and how they actually perform under real pressure.
The episode moves through four interconnected challenges that every leader operating in this environment needs to confront. The first two examine the organisational foundations: why compound crises expose the limits of conventional crisis planning, and why the goal of strategy is no longer to predict the future but to build the capability to respond to whatever it brings. The second two examine the human cost: how the loyalty equation with people has fundamentally changed and what leaders must do to earn, not assume, commitment, and what AI transformation is doing to the gap between what leaders are saying publicly and what their people are experiencing privately.
The episode concludes with an honest examination of what all of this costs at a human level, why resilience is an organisational responsibility rather than a personal virtue, and what clear-eyed leadership through sustained uncertainty actually looks like.
For leaders who want to understand not just how to manage disruption but how to build organisations where the gap is not so wide in the first place, this episode is the guide.
Links:
Jad Bitar on LinkedIn
BCG Middle East
BCG Middle East | Podcasts
The BCG CEO Insomnia Index: Understanding CEO Pressure
Email Flavors of Ambition: flavorsofambition@bcg.com

Recent disruptions have highlighted vulnerabilities across global trade and supply chains, prompting business leaders to reassess the resilience of the systems that support their organizations.
Resilience Reflections is a Flavors of Ambition mini-series from BCG that explores how recent disruptions are reshaping business strategy, supply chains, and operational resilience. Through conversations with BCG experts, the series examines practical lessons for leaders navigating an increasingly complex operating environment.
In this first episode, BCG Managing Director and Senior Partner Rami Rafih introduces the themes that will shape the series. Drawing on his experience advising organizations on business strategy in a changing geopolitical landscape, Rami discusses how recent disruptions have affected global trade infrastructure and what these developments can mean for businesses and economies.
The conversation explores which sectors have experienced the greatest disruption, how supply chain interdependencies can amplify operational impacts, and why recovery timelines differ significantly across industries. Rami also examines the structural changes already influencing global trade and supply chain strategy, regardless of when conditions stabilize.
The episode concludes with perspectives on the factors shaping resilience today, the outlook for recovery across key sectors, and practical considerations for business leaders seeking to strengthen resilience and prepare for future disruption.
For leaders looking to better understand how global developments are influencing regional transformation—and what it can take to build more resilient operations—this episode provides the starting point for the series.
Links:
Rami Rafih on LinkedIn
BCG Middle East
BCG Middle East | Podcasts
How Could the Strait of Hormuz Chokepoint Impact Future Business Dynamics?
The Hormuz Strait: Which Sectors and Regions Are Impacted Most?
When the Strait Closes, the Transition Opens: How the Middle East Conflict Could Reshape Maritime Fuel Strategy
Email Flavors of Ambition: flavorsofambition@bcg.com

The Middle East is undergoing one of the most ambitious workforce transformations in the world. As economies diversify, technology accelerates change, and new industries emerge, the question is no longer if jobs will evolve, but how people can be prepared to thrive in what comes next.
In this episode of Flavors of Ambition, we speak with Dr. Ahmed Alzahrani, Deputy Minister for Skills and Training at Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, about what it takes to build a future-ready workforce across the region.
Drawing on his background in behavioral economics, Dr. Ahmed brings a refreshingly human lens to the conversation, challenging long-held assumptions about education, careers, and what truly prepares people for the future of work. He shares why the old rules no longer apply and what needs to change next.
Joined by BCG Partner and Director, Education, Employment and Welfare, Anton Stepanenko, the conversation explores how AI, personalization, and lifelong learning are reshaping the labor market. Together, they unpack what it means to move from qualification-based hiring to skills-based systems, and why adaptability has become the most valuable skill of all.
We also dive into Saudi Arabia’s role as a sandbox for bold talent reforms and what that means for the region and beyond.
If you want to understand how the Middle East is reimagining human capital, building systems that match talent to opportunity, and preparing people for the future of work, this episode is for you.
Links:
Dr. Ahmed Alzahrani on LinkedIn
Anton Stepanenko on LinkedIn
BCG Middle East
Email Flavors of Ambition: flavorsofambition@bcg.com

The Middle East is reimagining what a city can be—and at the heart of that transformation is a bold question: what if play, creativity, and human connection became the foundation of urban design?
In this episode of Flavors of Ambition, Ryan Taylor, Managing Director at BCG Brighthouse, sits in the host’s chair for a conversation with Morgan Parker, Vice Chair of the Management Committee at Qiddiya Investment Company, about the philosophy shaping one of the region’s most ambitious initiatives. Just outside Riyadh, Qiddiya is being built from scratch around sport, entertainment, and culture—designed not just as a destination, but as a new way of living.
Morgan shares how decades of global experience in city-making shaped his belief that great places start with purpose. From rethinking how people move through public spaces to redesigning experiences like golf courses and transport systems, he explains how Qiddiya is embedding play into everyday life—lowering barriers, encouraging participation, and creating moments of shared joy.
Together, Ryan and Morgan explore how Vision 2030 is unlocking new possibilities for domestic tourism, community connection, and long-term career pathways in experiential industries. Morgan reflects on why this project isn’t a development with an end date, but a living city that will continue to evolve across generations.
We also dive into what Qiddiya could mean beyond Saudi Arabia—a blueprint for future cities that trade not just in goods or finance, but in experiences that shape memory, culture, and belonging.
If you’re curious about the future of urban life, purpose-driven development, and what it really means to design for human potential, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.
Links:
Qiddiya
BCG Brighthouse
Ryan Taylor on LinkedIn
Entertainment Parks Industry: Trends & Opportunities for Saudi Arabia
Email Flavors of Ambition: flavorsofambition@bcg.com